More ancestors to guide us than we realize (for Fathers Day and National Indigenous Day of Prayer -- June 21, 2020)

At-Home Worship for Sunday, June 21, 2020

“Ancestors Day” (for Fathers Day and National Indigenous Day of Prayer)

Opening Thought (from “Draw the Circle Wide” MV 145)  

  

Draw the circle wide, 

draw it wider still.

Let this be our song: 

no one stands alone.

Standing side by side, 

draw the circle wide.

God the still-point of the circle, 

’round whom all creation turns;

Nothing lost, but held forever, 

in God’s gracious arms.

Welcome

Today is Fathers’ Day.  Is anything special planned in your family to celebrate and honour the fathers and grandfathers in your life – or that you are a father or grandfather, or father figure?

A text that comes to mind is the fifth of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20: “Respect your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land I am giving to you.”  The phrase “in the land I am giving to you, to live in” brings to mind another father-text from the Hebrew Scriptures, from Deuteronomy 26 – a passage that scholars see as the first and oldest statement of faith among the people of Israel: 

A wandering Aramean was my father; he went down into Egypt and lived there as

an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.  The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm … and brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.

Among our fathers and grandfathers, how many were also wanderers on the face of the Earth – immigrants or maybe refugees of one kind or another – coming to settle and make a life for themselves and their family in a land not their own?  In a land already inhabited, and already the God-given home of others there before them?

One thing we’re learning is that we have not been good at recognizing that this land was somebody else’s – or at least, home to somebody else, and taken care of by somebody else before us.

We want to get better at that.  It just seems an honest way to live, and maybe live longer and more healthily in the land where we are.

So today we take time to acknowledge that this church – the place where we worship God, is situated on the traditional and unceded territory of the Anishinabewaki, (An – ish – in – awb – wa – key), the Attiwonderonk and the Haudenosaunee (Hoe – d – no – show – knee) peoples.

Even as we give thanks for their care of this land for so long, we acknowledge that our gain has come at great cost to them and to others.  They are among the fathers and grandfathers of this place, with things to teach us to help us live long and more healthily in this land.

Opening prayer (based on a prayer of the Anglican and United Churches of Canada for Aboriginal Sunday)

We give thanks to you, our Creator, for you are always with us.

May you help us, Creator,

to hear you in the call of a loon;

to see you in the flight of an eagle;

to feel you in the changing of the seasons;

to know you and to love you

when we gather together and when we are alone.

Creator, you are with us in our giftedness

in our search for new understandings of ourselves and of others,

and in the search for new visions and new practices of community

which all our fathers and grandfathers have undertaken,

and for which they have much to teach us.

We give thanks to you, God, our Creator.

Hymn:  “Sisters, Let Us Walk Together” (MV 179)

Sisters let us walk together, sharing sadness, loss, and grief.

We will move through pain to wholeness, brokenness transformed to peace.

Brothers let us work together, seeking justice, healing shame.

Filled with hope, imbued with courage, ev’ry violence we will name.

People let us love together, joining spirits, linking hands.

We are God’s unique creation, clothed with dignity we’ll stand.

Scripture reading: Revelations 7:9-13

The reading this morning is from the Book of Revelations – a book borne out of suffering and anxiety, such as we face today, and a book of hope offering visions of a new world – a new normal, being born out of the ashes and broken remnants of the old.

After this I looked, and there was an enormous crowd—no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They called out in a loud voice: “Salvation [healing, liberation and wholeness] comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. Then they threw themselves face downward in front of the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honour, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!”

One of the elders asked me, “Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where have they come from?”

Meditation

What a wonderful vision of a new world and new normal – all races, all nations, all tribes and languages and cultures and traditions, coming together in praise of God and the healing of the world in the unity of God.

One thing I especially like in this image is the simple question that’s asked as the vision unfolds, “Who are all these people?  And where are they from?”

There’s a lot of hard conversation and difficult action today around the realities of systemic racism and the institutionalization of privilege and hierarchy.  And among those of us who are privileged in ways we often don’t even notice – but just assume to be the natural order of things, or maybe even God’s good design – there are at least three ways we can respond to what’s coming to light. 

One, not very productive, is to try to deny what’s being said, get defensive and even combative. 

A second, also ultimately not helpful, is to accept the truth of what’s being revealed, feel guilty about what’s been done, feel terrible about being bad people, and be disempowered. 

A third, the most hopeful, is to be awakened, to become curious about what’s been suppressed and pushed to the margins, and to take time not to speak but to listen, to ask questions, and to grow.

“Who are these people?  Where do they come from?  What do they bring with them?  And what do they have to teach us?”

One of the things we are told is that among the First Nations of this land, were some traditional teachings called “The Seven Grandfather Teachings.”

Deb Pratt has written a liturgy for today for use among Indigenous communities.  In it, she says, “before strangers came to this land … we had a belief system that helped us to live a good life, [that] the newcomers condemned [as] barbaric, demonis, hedonistic and savage.

“Some of the teachings we lived by were the Grandfather Teachings, which consist of Love, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Humility and Trutt.  These teachings were taught freely and daily in our communities.  The mothers spoke of them to their unborn children.  They were the first lessons a child was taught and were repeated throughout their lives….

“There are seven Grandfather Teachings or Laws our people lived by daily.”

And without presenting or claiming these as ours, or as the wisdom of our tradition, Karen and I will briefly share what Deb Pratt has written about these teachings, leaving it to each of us to know for ourselves what they say to us, how near or how far they are from our own tradition’s wisdom, and how near or far from the teachings of our fathers and grand-fathers.

The First Teaching is Love.  Love comes from knowing the Creator, and one’s first love is for the Creator or Great Spirit.  Creator is the parent of all children, which leads us to love ourselves and then others as well, as part of one family.  The animal of Love is Eagle that soars highest of all the creatures, and brings pure vision to the seeker.  Eagle also shows us that love can be the most elusive of the teachings, because it depends on being able to rise above the immediate, to true spirituality.

The Second Teaching is Respect – the condition of being honoured.  Respect is represented by Buffalo.  Through giving its life and sharing every part of its being, Buffalo shows deep respect for people.  No animal was more important to the people, providing shelter, clothing, food, and utensils for daily life.  Buffalo’s respect for people, drew forth the people’s respect for Buffalo in return, and lessons about being mutually respectful in all their relationships with other people as well – whether they be the elders, siblings, children or women.

The Third Teaching is Courage – the ability to face danger, fear, and change with confidence and bravery.  Bear teaches courage in the ways it lives.  A true definition of courage is mother Bear’s ferociousness when it comes to her cubs being approached, much like a human mother when it comes to her child.  This same ferociousness of heart and will is needed to overcome fear and to fight against whatever threatens or diminishes our life and the true spirit within us as human beings.

The Fourth Teaching is Honesty – speaking and acting truthfully, and thereby remaining morally upright.  Sabe – Saquatch – represents honesty.  Long ago there was a giant called Kitchi-Sabe who walked among people reminding them to be honest and true to the law of the Creator and with each other, and it came to be that the highest thing that could be said of anyone was “There walks an honest person, one who can be trusted.”  The Elders say live true to your spirit, never try to be someone else.

The Fifth Teaching is Wisdom – the ability to make decisions based on personal knowledge and experience.  True community depends on the gifts given to each member by the Creator being shared and used.  Beaver represents this teaching in the way it uses its sharp teeth to cut down trees to build dams and lodges.  If Beaver did not use its teeth in this way, they would continue to grow until they became useless and Beaver himself would die.  It’s the same for us.  Our spirit grows weak if it does not fulfil its purpose.  When used properly, our gifts contribute to developing a peaceful, healthy community and give us a place within  it.

The Sixth Teaching is Humility – recognizing and acknowledging that Creator is a higher power than people – a higher power than us.  Humility does not mean thinking badly about ourselves.  It means submitting to Creator, and accepting that all human beings are equal under Creator.  In practice, because of our ability to be self-centred, it means learning to consider others before ourselves.  Wolf teaches us humility, in the way he bows his head in the presence of others, and in not taking any food until it can be shared with the pack.  Wlf’s lack of arrogance and respect for the community is a hard lesson, but it is part of our way.

The Seventh Teaching is Truth – to know and to understand the original laws of Creator, and to remain faithful to them.  Turtle teaches us about truth.  It is said that in the beginning when Creator made humanity and gave us sacred laws, Grandmother Turtle was present to ensure that the laws would not be forgotten.  On the back of Turtle are 13 moons, each representing one cycle of Earth around the sun.  The 28 markings on Turtle’s back represent the cycle of the moon of a woman’s body.  The shell of Turtle represents the basic, orderly realities of the Earth and of our own bodies created by a power higher than ourselves – reminding us to obey and to serve Creator’s will and teachings.

So… seven Grandfather Teachings about how to live well and live long in the land you are given.  I wonder what it’s like to be part of a people nourished daily on those teachings?

When we look at the vast and varied multitude of people all gathered before the throne, on the far side of the crucible of life giving praise together to the glory of God, I wonder if teachings like these are part of the answer to the questions: who are these people, where have they come from, and how did they get here?

And I wonder what is there we have learned – have been taught and is now embedded deep down in our bones – from our fathers, grandfathers and father figures, to help us be there as well, to be part of that number beyond our numbering who know how to live well and live long in the land, to the glory of God?

Hymn:  “We Are All One People” (MV 141 -- a Cree song)

We are all one people,

We all come from one Creator way on high.

We are all one nation,

Under one great sky, you and I.

We are all one people,

We are all one colour in her/his eyes

We are all one people, we are all one nation,

We are all one colour if we try.

Prayer

We thank you, God, loving and holy One,

for fathers, grandfathers and father figures in our life and in our world.

For what we see of you,

and what we learn of your Word and your Spirit from them

we give thanks.

For the ways we do not,

for the ways we see other words and lesser spirits in them,

and for the ways they struggled – maybe still struggle, to live well,

we pray for your help and healing.

Those of us who are fathers, grandfathers and father figures to others

give you thanks for this grace and opportunity

and pray for your help and healing to live it well.

For the ways we do not,

for the ways we are more shadow than light,

we ask for your and our children’s forgiveness,

and for healing and help.

Together – as men, women and children,

we pray for all to whom your Father –

for all nations and tribes,

for all races and cultures,

for people of all tongues and traditions

especially for those who are poor,

who are without homes and shelter,

who are hungry and thirsty for food and drink, for love,

for a place of equality and respect in this world,

for those who are ill or dying,

for those who are bereaved and in sorrow,

for those who are lonely, angry, trapped or lost.

Hear us as we pray together to you as

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.  Amen.

Sending Forth:  Go Now in Peace

Go now in peace; never be afraid;
God will go with you each hour of every day.
Go now in faith -- steadfast, strong and true;
Know God will guide you in all you do.
Go now in love, and show that you believe;
Reach out to others so all the world can see:
God will be there, watching from above.
Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.